The Song Scientifically Designed to Make Babies Happy

Does your baby perk up when you play that certain song? It's not your imagination. Scientists have studied babies' musical preferences — and they've shown that babies prefer certain melodies and sounds and can even remember music they've heard before.

Now, two researchers — developmental psychologist Caspar Addyman, M.D., and music psychologist Lauren Stewart — have set out to create a song "to make babies happy" for the U.K.-based baby food manufacturer Cow & Gate. The pair approached Grammy Award-winning songwriter Imogen Heap, who had an 18-month-old baby of her own.

Has a fast beat (since babies' heart rates are much faster than ours, the researchers settled on 163 beats per minute)

Includes babies' favorite sounds, which, according to a survey of parents that the researchers commissioned, include the word "boo!" and noises like raspberries, sneezing, animal sounds and baby laughter

Has "plosive" lyrical sounds like "pa" and "ba"

To compose the "ideal" baby song, Heap first created four melodies, two fast and two slow, which the researchers played for 26 babies between 6 and 12 months of age. They then asked parents which song they thought their babies preferred and filmed the babies, counting the numbers of laughs and smiles during each song. With a melody picked, they added lyrics. Once the final song was created, they put 20 babies in a room with their parents, played it…and…held their breath.

Just try to picture that: 20 babies under 12 months old in one room, all calmly listening to one song for a full 2 minutes 30 seconds. Sounds impossible, right? But, according to Addyman, it worked. "We were met by a sea of entranced little faces. This final bit wasn't the most scientific as tests go, but it definitely convinced me that we had a hit on our hands," he wrote.

As a new mom with a baby, you'll probably try anything once for a smile and especially a laugh. So with no further ado, we present "The Happy Song."

If this reminds you of, well, any one of the zillion songs you've heard in baby music classes, you wouldn't be alone. (It doesn't apparently take a scientist to figure out the formula!) If you and your baby are digging it, you can also listen to the song on Spotify on repeat — or until it drives you bonkers.